THE DAILY ILLINI
THURSDAY March 14, 2019
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
BY EUNICE ALPASAN STAFF WRITER
ABBY PAETH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
At
the beginning of my term, I wrote about making mistakes. Something that I have always been afraid of is not knowing the right answer when confronted with a problem, and if I’m being honest, sometimes I really don’t know the right answer. But I guess, in a way, that’s what journalism is — not knowing and finding out. Something I don’t think a lot of people know is that working for The Daily Illini comes with a lot of added pressure. As students, we are given this platform a lot of people listen to, and we influence a community of tens of thousands of students and citizens. That comes with an enormous amount of responsibility, especially for a college newspaper. Over the past year, I faced challenges beyond anything I could have expected — things I could have never prepared for. Some days were extremely hard and filled with disbelief, but looking back, I wouldn’t trade a single moment of my time at The Daily Illini for anything. My leadership style is that of a teacher, and when I started as editor-in-chief I thought I would be doing a lot of teaching. I was surprised to discover I did more learning. I learned from my staff, I learned from my predecessors and I learned from all of you — the readers. It’s really hard work, but it’s work that I love, and it’s work I have watched so many passionate people do over the past four years. Journalism is for the people, something I held very true during my time as editor. We worked hard not for ourselves, not for a good story or clip, but for you. Sure, we’ve made mistakes, but we’ve learned SEE FAREWELL | 3A
INSIDE
The United Nations predicts the world population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050, and to meet the demand, food production must double. Sustainably feeding a growing population with fewer resources in a changing climate will prove a challenge. University researchers may have brought the world closer to a solution, with a 40 percent boost in plant growth through increased photosynthetic efficiency. The study is a part of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency, an international research project that partners with universities to make photosynthesis more efficient in order to sustainably increase worldwide food production. Donald Ort, RIPE deputy director and professor in ACES, led the study. “To double productivity in the next three to four decades, we need to do things that we haven’t done before,” Ort said. “If you look at what traditional breeding is doing, it’s not increasing yield fast enough to meet where we need to be in 2050.” Photosynthesis involves the enzyme rubisco and sunlight energy converting carbon dioxide and water into sugars that help plants grow. Photorespiration, a process where plants take in oxygen and give out carbon dioxide, occurs because rubisco is unable to tell carbon and oxygen molecules apart, and incorrectly grabs oxygen 20 percent of the time. This process greatly suppresses a crop’s growth potential by wasting the energy produced during photosynthesis. “It’s almost unfathomable SEE RESEARCH | 3A
KENYON EDMOND THE DAILY ILLINI
Amanda Cavanagh, a postdoctoral student who helped develop a new method of plant growth in the southernmost greenhouse in the Plant Sciences Laboratory on Friday. The new method currently produces 40 percent more plant growth.
Law changes guidelines for evidence kits STAFF WRITER MARK CAPAPAS THE DAILY ILLINI
Adelaide Aime speaks about her work in sexual assault prevention in her office in Lincoln Square Mall on Tuesday. During her 35 years of work in prevention, she has seen a 60 percent decrease in sexual assault nationwide.
Survivors experience longer wait for support STAFF WRITER
Opinions: Tesla’s batteries are draining PAGE 4A
buzz: buzz editor bids farewell to CU PAGE 6B
An increased number of sexual complaints filed is leading to longer wait time at resource centers for sexual misconduct victims. The Women’s Resources Center at the University has seen an influx of complaints. Despite their efforts, the center is struggling to meet the needs of survivors because of their small staff size. The WRC was unableto comment at the time of publication due to their staff shortage. Adelaide Aime, executive director of the sexual assault resource center, Rape Advocacy, Counseling and Education, in Urbana, said many crisis centers both on and off campus have seen an incred-
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sitive nature, they are securely stored at the hospital until a judge issues a subpoena for them to be released for court purposes,” Stynoski said. All the kits go to law enforcement and the hospital keeps records of all confidential reports. Patients have the option to either report the assault to the police right away, have a healthcare provider give the details to the police or not report the case at all. Sometimes survivors hesitate to report their assault because they are afraid of whether or not they will be prosecuted for any illegal substances in their system at the time of their assault. The new law offers legal protection against prosecution for other illegal substances used at the time of the assault. “A statement of the higher education institution’s obligation to include an amnesty provision that provides immunity to any student who reports, in good faith … so that the reporting student will not receive a disciplinary sanction by the institution for a student conduct violation, such as underage drink-
BY MEGHANA KAZA
BY JULIE KANG
Police
Vol. 148 Issue 50
Study aims to feed world by 2050
Farewell to all my readers, editors, teachers
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ible increase in requests for service. Aime said she thinks resource centers are experiencing difficulties because of the #MeToo movement, as well as the Brett Kavanaugh hearings last fall, which are bringing more awareness to the issue of sexual assault and harassment. “During the Kavanaugh hearings, the number of calls to our hotline tripled,” Aime said. “They’re still higher than they were before that, so I think things going on in society affect all of us, including campuses.” RACES was the first rape crisis center in Illinois. Unlike the WRC, Aime said RACES has not had issues with understaffing. In fact, they recently added staff members and have the
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capacity to meet demands. Aime said the WRC is understaffed while RACES is not because the WRC is part of a large University, and the way they allocate their resources is different from how RACES is funded. “It’s just the nature of the way things are,” Aime said. The WRC and RACES work together, often referring back and forth and doing collaborative training. Aime said it is a valuable partnership she hopes to continue. “I applaud the Women’s Resources Center and the University of Illinois for trying to hire more staff to help this because we’re all working together to meet the needs of people who SEE SURVIVORS | 3A
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A law was signed earlier this year that offers legal protection and provides sexual assault survivors with evidence kits that are to be kept for 10 years, access to showers and police reports at no cost. Previously, if a patient was not ready to make a police report and release the kit, the kits were held at the hospital for up to two weeks. Tegan Stynoski, sexual assault and domestic violence program coordinator at Carle Foundation Hospital, said a sexual assault evidence kit includes a thorough medical exam to assess for injury, risk of infection and pregnancy. The hospital also provides medications for STD prevention and pregnancy. In addition, evidence such as hair combings, cotton swabs and fingernail scrapings are also collected depending on what is pertinent to the assault. The new legislation for 2019 requires hospitals in Illinois to provide photographic documentation of patient injury. “These photos are the only pieces of the evidence collection that do not go to police. Due to their sen-
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